Mark Dubowitz in the Media

Filibuster Hagel

The charges arose from a grand jury subpoena concerning Alavi's relationship to Iran's Bank Melli, which is under U.S., U.K. and EU sanctions. Mark Dubowitz of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies describes Bank Melli as "one of Iran's most critical access points to the global financial system, enabling Tehran's world-wide network of money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation-related transactions."

As for Mr. Amirahmadi, he is currently running as a long-shot candidate to succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president of Iran. Though he portrays himself as a reformist, Iranian-Americans who follow him describe him as a "Rafsanjanist" eager to make the regime's case in Washington. In 2009, the New York Post quoted Mr. Amirahmadi as saying that "Iran has not been involved in any terrorist organization," and that "neither Hezbollah nor Hamas are terrorist organizations."